Researchers from the Department of Neuroscience at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences have found that medical cannabis, or medical marijuana, could help treat essential tremor, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary and rhythmic shaking.
The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Cannabis contains cannabinoids that have a peculiar action on the central nervous system. In a mouse model, the researchers have demonstrated that a specific synthetic cannabinoid (WIN55,212-2) reduces essential tremor by activating astrocytes – the support cells of the spinal cord and brain.
Previous studies have focused on the action of medical cannabis on the neurons, or nerve cells.
Lead researcher Prof. Jean-François Perrier said, “We have focused on the disease essential tremor. It causes involuntary shaking, which can be extremely inhibitory and seriously reduce the patient’s quality of life. However, the cannabinoid might also have a beneficial effect on sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, for example, which also cause involuntary shaking.”
“We discovered that an injection with the cannabinoid WIN55,212-2 into the spinal cord turns on the astrocytes in the spinal cord and prompts them to release the substance adenosine,” he added, “which subsequently reduces nerve activity and thus the undesired shaking.”
The explanation of the effect of medical marijuana on astrocytes is completely new. This approach may help improve the treatment of patients with essential tremor.
Another researcher Eva Carlsen said, “One might imagine a new approach to medical cannabis for shaking, where you—during the development of cannabis-based medicinal products—target the treatment either at the spinal cord or the astrocytes—or, at best, the astrocytes of the spinal cord.”
“Using this approach will avoid affecting the neurons in the brain responsible for our memory and cognitive abilities, and we would be able to offer patients suffering from involuntary shaking effective treatment without exposing them to any of the most problematic side effects of medical cannabis,” she added. Now, the researchers plan to tests medical cannabis on patients who suffer from essential tremor to understand whether the new approach has the same effect on humans, according to Medical Xpress.
